Monthly Archives: November 2018

Our weekly Friday round-up of opportunities listed on the blog that haven’t yet reached their closing date (listed in order of closing date). Opportunities are grouped into four sections: 1) Pick of the Week & featured posts; 2) Opportunities with Deadlines; 3) Workshops and Events; 4) Ongoing opportunities (No deadline).

It’s that time of year again: for the Christmas gift round up! Discover our selection of the best presents for writers…

‘Tis the season for mulled wine, Christmas films, carols, and trying to be more organised than last year and not leaving all of your shopping to Christmas Eve (gulp).

Maybe your friend or family member is a playwright and you’re looking to avoid buying them a notebook for the sixth year in the row (though a writer can never have to many notebooks), or maybe you’re a playwright looking to treat yourself or even add something special to your own wish list.

We’ve scoured around – stopping off for plenty of mince pies on the way – and have compiled a Christmas gift guide for writers.

Also, did you know, that by shopping through the links provided in this list, you can help support LPB at absolutely no extra cost to you? We’ve provided links to everything we’ve recommended here using the Amazon Affiliates scheme. Even if you DON’T buy the original item (and purchase something different ), if you click through any of our links to access the Amazon website, we’ll get a small percentage of the sale to help us keep running the blog, and it won’t cost you anything extra. So if you are planning on shopping at Amazon this festive season, we’d really appreciate it if you clicked through from here first! Thanks!

Becoming a playwright doesn’t just mean picking up your pen and creating a story, there’s also lots of practical and business elements involved in building a career in theatre. This brilliant book from Papatango covers everything from pursuing funding opportunities to approaching agents. (Paperback £9.29/ Kindle £8.83)

We’re frequently told that a good writer is also a good reader. Seeing theatre shows performed live is incredible, but reading the play text helps you discover a play in a whole new way, as well as learn more about the practical side of writing a show, particularly in relation to formatting.

Misty by Arinzé Kene, originally on at Bush Theatre before transferring to Trafalgar Studios, was one of the stand-out hits of this year. A mix of music, poetry and theatre, this show was spectacular – and the play text should be at the top of everyone’s wish list! (Paperback £7.09/ Kindle £6.74)

Sign up for an annual membership for London Playwrights’ Workshop and you’ll get access to resources and writing exercises, including our Write A Play In A Month (WrAP) scheme, which will help you hit the New Year running (or writing even). You’ll also get discounts on course bookings, access to the playwrights’ book club and the chance to come along to member meetups.

You can sign up for monthly membership for just £3.63 per month here, but for a limited time, we’re also offering annual membership for £40; there is even an option to purchase this as a gift and the lucky recipient will receive a nice email on a date of your choice (even Christmas day!) containing details of their membership. If you want a gift that lasts all year round, this is it! Purchase your annual membership here.

Often writers don’t just stick to theatre, and write for TV and novels, and this best-selling guide gives handy tips on how to get published across all these different types of media. There’s also nuggets of advice and inspiration, and it’s updated every year, continually supporting writers in their careers by providing the latest opportunities and knowledge. (Paperback £14.77/ Kindle £14.15)

Shakespeare is perhaps the most famous playwright, so how could he not feature on this list? Well, we’ve not added Shakespeare himself to this list as we seem to have misplaced our Tardis… But you can get this lovely tin pencil case with a variety of Shakespeare quotes on. It’s perfect for when you need a bit of a poetry pick-me-up while you’re slogging through your tenth draft… (£9.49)

6. Something To Get The Creative Juices Following

Unfortunately, creativity sometimes just won’t strike. That’s when writing exercises are brilliant to kick-start your brain again and fill it with wonderful ideas for your next show.

The Writer’s Toolbox (£13.01) is filled with exercises and instructions to help you discover new stories and ignite those sparks. It also contains four spinner palettes to spice up your story with some plot twists…

Sometimes the problem is actually finding the time to write, but the Five Minute Writer (Paperback £9.99/ Kindle £3.49) shows how (you guessed it) we can all find five-minutes to get our creativity going again. Just spending five minutes a day on one of the exercises in the book will help you discover your story!

Full of theatre news, reviews, interviews and jobs in the industry, The Stage is a one-stop-shop for any playwright who wants to stay up-to-date about everything happening in theatre land.

They’re currently offering a special Christmas gift subscription that will begin on December 25, and grant the holder access to the print, digital and web only editions, as well as 10% discount on theatre tickets and other subscriber benefits! (From £12)

Maybe you’ve stumbled across this article as you’ve got Sue from HR for your Secret Santa but all you know about Sue is that she quite likes plays, and likes to write on her lunch break (we may now be thinking about the backstory for Sue, please stop us).

This metal enamel pin is the perfect gift for any theatre-lover, and won’t break the budget! (£1.90)

We’re officially allowing you to give your writer friend a notebook for the sixth year, as a writer can really never have enough notebooks. Getting a pocket-sized one is great as it means a writer can fit it into their bag, so when an idea suddenly strikes them, they have somewhere to write it down in! This Field Notebook is also great as, with it living it someone’s bag, it’s handy that it’s waterproof and tear proof – no one wants a notebook to become so dog-eared they can’t read it! (£9.07)

This book challenges the previous notion that writing is not a suitable career for women (with writers like Charlotte Brontë having had to adopt male pseudonyms), and instead brings the work of around 50 female authors together to showcase their brilliant writing.

Learn more about some of the best authors of our time with this book that’s perfect for curling up by the fire with on Christmas day. (Hardcover £13.88)

Happy Holidays from all of us at LPB!

Reflecting on her experience of writing ‘Dandelion‘, which is set in 1988 and centres around the impact of the homophobic law Section 28, guest writer Jennifer Richards discusses writing a play for a modern audience that isn’t about the modern at all.

Writing a play that’s not set in today’s world feels risky; with the idea of “newness” often favoured in theatre, with new writing theatres tending to ask for plays about the modern world. This suggests that historical plays (new ones, not the classics!) may not have a place in today’s theatre scene. But just because a play isn’t set in a contemporary time period, doesn’t mean it can’t have a contemporary feel.

My latest play Dandelion is set in 1988 and explores the impact of Section 28, a piece of legislation introduced by Thatcher that banned the ‘promotion of homosexuality’ by schools and local councils.

You may be thinking that 1988 isn’t exactly Elizabethan times, but history is so important to this play, with the entire one hour and 20 minutes centred around the fallout of this legislation on the two queer female protagonists. As I was writing Dandelion, learning to make a play that so steeped in history feel contemporary was definitely a learning curve, but here’s the tips I picked up:

Ask yourself: why is this story still relevant today?

When learning historical texts at schools, whether that was a Shakespeare play or Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, I always felt slightly distant from the story.

I was 14 and knew nothing of forbidden love or scary scientific inventions; and it’s not that I’ve now spent all the years since I’ve left school having my own Romeo and Juliet story set in a mad-scientist’s lab (though, great idea for a play), but I’ve seen loads of wonderful new takes on these plays and stories, which has helped me discover my connection to them.

Also, finding myself in unequal relationships where there wasn’t the correct balance of power, I’ve learnt the universality of the themes in those stories, which often do deal with power and love.

Shakespeare’s plays are still staged so frequently as they have something important to say to a modern society. In writing a historical play, it’s about looking where that universal connection still lies, that point within your play that exists outside of its time period.

With my play Dandelion, its’ ideas around identity and learning to be comfortable with yourself are not thoughts that only existed in 1988. And though the intricacies of any historical play are likely contained to that time period, it’s the wider themes that should make your story enduringly relevant.

Plan an event exploring the history

Exploring that relevancy I mentioned above doesn’t have to just be contained to the script or stage. With Dandelion, we’re hoping to run a panel event in the New Year centred around the impact of Section 28 and why it’s important to remember queer history.

This has further helped us explore that historical significance of a piece of work in a modern setting. Putting on events like this, or perhaps running workshops that offer the chance for people to learn more about the history of your play and why you chose to explore that history, will further foster this connection between the historical and the modern.

Don’t shy away from the time period

Making a historical play feel contemporary doesn’t mean trying to minimise the history as much as possible for fear that that part of the play will seem dull. If you want the world you’re creating in your play to really resonate with your audience, it has to feel genuine.

Using the correct language from the time period, having fun with the costumes and the music all helps cement the time period. Building a world that does seem different from today also encourages audience members to examine this difference, and look at how we’ve changed as a society, or perhaps how we’ve not changed.

Understand the historical significance through the character

When I first started writing Dandelion, because it centres so specifically around a piece of legislation, I didn’t know how to introduce Section 28 to the play without it sounding like I just really needed to funnel in the description of what Section 28 was so the rest of the play could work.

And it would have been these stilted historical references that would’ve prevented the play from resonating with a modern audience. I needed to learn to tell this history through the characters rather than name-dropping legislation every other word.

Therefore, at the beginning of the play, we play the sound clip of lesbian activists crashing the BBC News to protest Section 28 (an event that really happened) to make it clear from the start that though this play is about a time of historical significance, it centres on the people of that time.

Plays are typically about having a strong voice and characters that people connect with and it’s important to remember that doesn’t change when it comes to historical plays.

Rehearsal shot for Dandelion, taken by Rosie Featherstone

Dandelion has been my first time writing a play not set in the modern day, and it’s been great learning how to combine the historical and the modern – and decking myself out in all the 80s costumes hasn’t been too bad either!

Wait – you’re telling me those costumes are only for the actors?

Jennifer Richards’s show Dandelion is running at the King’s Head in Islington on December 16th and 17th December.

The Writer’s Club is a unique club for playwrights, where writers come together to develop their scripts, learn, share and inspire. It takes place fortnightly on Saturdays 11am – 1pm or Monday evenings 6pm – 8pm at Calder Bookshop & Theatre, Waterloo, London.

How to apply: membership fee is £100 a term (every 4 months). To apply you will need to submit two samples of your work (no more than 10 minutes each). Places are limited so apply now to avoid disappointment. To apply, visit the website.

As part of their 10th year of operation as an independent publisher and licensing agent for play and musicals, Stage scripts seek to uncover 10 plays which have had at least one professional production and which deserve to be championed for a further life. The selected scripts will be featured in their catalogues.

This is a full day practical workshop were you will be asked to write and participate and share ideas.

Why are some characters funnier than others? Why was Friends so much better in the first two seasons? Why don’t comedic characters have to have character arcs? Why are British and American comedies different – and are they really? And how, dear God, do you construct an effective plotline?!

If these are the kind of questions you ponder of a weekend, and if you have a head full of sitcom characters and mirthful plotlines, this workshop could be for you. We’ll focus on how you can structure ideas into effective and funny scripts, looking especially at the ins and outs of narrative structure, and how that can be the maker or breaker of your script.

Stop and Search by Gabriel Gbadamosi opens the question of why a tactic aimed at policing drugs, violence and terrorism has grown into a flashpoint for wider, and deeper, flaws in a volatile and frightened social psyche.

The Public Address looks to answer that question. Over two nights 16 new pieces will be brought to the stage, exploring the social ramifications of the policy from creative perspectives.

From spoken word to performance art and everything in between, The Public Address gives a platform for new voices.